3 charged in shooting in which 4-year-old wounded

Police charged three people Tuesday in connection with the August shooting of a 4-year-old boy and his mother on Rockford's near southeast side.

Chris Green

Police charged three people Tuesday in connection with the August shooting of a 4-year-old boy and his mother on the city’s near southeast side.

Terrick T. Mackey, 19, Arsenio L. Purifoy, 17, and Drakaar L. Malone, 18, all of Rockford, were charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery. At the time of their arrests Tuesday, the three were already in the Winnebago County Jail on unrelated charges, Deputy Chief Greg Lindmark said.

A fourth suspect, Shamario A. Graham, 19, of Rockford, is still at large.

Early on Aug. 20, Chayse Maple was shot along with his mother, Tammy Dufoe, 30, in the parking lot of the Mobil gas station at College Avenue and Seminary Street, a location known for drug dealings.

Dufoe and her son were sitting in her SUV. Police said Dufoe was talking to someone standing outside her SUV when four men approached them. Words were exchanged, and Dufoe fled but not before shots were fired. Her son was struck in the head and she was hit in the arm. The four men fled in a vehicle that was later recovered by police.

Lindmark would not go into details about what led police to the three arrests.

“Information came in to us, and we followed up on that information.” he said.

Chayse, who has undergone two surgeries, and Dufoe since have been released from the hospital. A third surgery for Chayse is scheduled for this week, said Matt Yarber, father of Chayse’s older sister, 12-year-old Aeriel.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Graham is asked to call Rockford police at 815-987-5824 or Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867.

Staff writer Chris Green can be reached at 815-987-1241 or cgreen@rrstar.com.